As Youth Month comes to an end, countless organisations, government departments and industry bodies have concluded their annual commemorations. There have been inspiring speeches, colourful events, panel discussions and ambitious promises about empowering young people. Now, as the calendar turns, many will shift their attention to Women’s Month and the next round of commemorative activities.
By Lebogang Mashala, Editor, African Farming
But once the banners come down and the speeches are forgotten, one question continues to trouble me: Have we genuinely created an environment where young people can enter agriculture, remain in the sector and ultimately prosper?
For all the discussions about youth development, agriculture remains one of South Africa’s most critical, yet most underutilised sectors for creating jobs, entrepreneurship and long-term economic inclusion. Despite their enormous potential, young people continue to enter farming at far lower levels than required to secure the future of our food systems and rural economies.
There is no debate about the importance of youth participation. Young people bring innovation, energy, technological skills and entrepreneurial thinking that are desperately needed to modernise agriculture. The future competitiveness of our sector depends on them.
As government, development finance institutions, agribusinesses, the private sector, commodity organisations and even the agricultural media, our responsibility is to ensure agriculture is accessible and supported with the right financial and developmental tools.
Also read: From Maile’s desk: For your farming legacy to continue, involve the next generation early
Young people follow opportunity
Yet I believe we often ask the wrong question.
We constantly ask why young people are not attracted to agriculture. But perhaps we should rather ask what they see when they look at our industry.
Young people are not foolish. They look at agriculture and, too often, they do not see prosperity. They do not see enough successful young commercial farmers. They do not see enough examples of wealth being created through farming. Most importantly, they do not see enough people their own age building businesses they aspire to emulate.
Simply put, we have failed to market agriculture as an industry where young people can build successful and rewarding careers.
Compare this with the explosion of social media and content creation. Whether every influencer is making the money they claim is almost irrelevant. The perception that success is possible has drawn thousands of young people into that space in just a few years.
In fact, I now see many young farmers investing as much energy into becoming content creators as they do into farming itself, simply because they believe the financial rewards may be greater online than on the farm.
That should concern every stakeholder in agriculture.
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Create more success stories
So how do we establish more successful young farmers?
The answer, in my view, is remarkably simple.
Those who make decisions simply need to make supporting successful young farmers a genuine priority.
Identify young farmers who have already demonstrated commitment and potential. Invest in them unapologetically. Give them access to land, finance, infrastructure, markets and mentorship so they can grow into thriving commercial businesses.
That is how we create role models.
And role models matter.
One thing I have observed over the years is that whenever Youth Month arrives and organisations want to showcase agricultural success stories, we often see exactly the same faces. Year after year, conference after conference, exhibition after exhibition, the same individuals become the public representatives of youth agriculture.
Surely they cannot be the only successful young farmers in South Africa.
Is it that only a handful receive meaningful support, or are we simply not making enough effort to identify and promote new success stories?
If we are serious about inspiring the next generation, we need hundreds of visible examples from every province, every commodity and every farming system. Young people need to see others who look like them, have come from communities like theirs and have built successful farming businesses despite the many challenges.
Also read: From fields of hope to fields of opportunity: Young women farmers helping secure South Africa’s future
Training without a destination
Recently, I attended the North West Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s budget vote speech. The MEC outlined several encouraging initiatives, particularly around agricultural education and skills development.
North West is fortunate to have a university with a respected agricultural faculty, two agricultural colleges and several agricultural high schools that continue to produce graduates every year.
But the question I continue asking, and it applies equally to every province, is this: Where are these graduates today?
Many have received agricultural training. Many have participated in government programmes. Yet we hear very little about how many are still farming or how many have progressed into successful commercial enterprises.
For years, I have questioned the wisdom of recruiting young people into agriculture in large numbers without a clear strategy for supporting them beyond graduation or training.
We have also seen campaigns centred on slogans such as “making agriculture sexy again”.
Personally, I think we have been focusing on the wrong objective.
There is nothing particularly glamorous about mining, engineering or accounting. Yet these industries continue attracting talented young people because they offer visible career opportunities and financial success.
Agriculture does not need to become “sexy”. It needs to become consistently profitable.
Rather than spending resources trying to convince young people that farming is exciting, we should be ensuring the young farmers already in the industry remain on their farms, grow sustainable businesses and earn decent incomes.
Success is the most powerful marketing tool we have.
When young people see their peers building profitable farming enterprises, agriculture will no longer have to compete for attention through slogans or marketing campaigns. Success will speak for itself.
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Mindset matters too
Finally, while institutions have an enormous responsibility, young people themselves also have a role to play.
Support is important, but so is attitude.
Recently, while visiting Mbombela, I caught up with an old friend, Sibusiso Mogale, whom I had invited to speak at one of African Farming’s Finance for Farmers Workshops.
Born without hands, Sibusiso began farming in his backyard using seeds collected from rotten tomatoes. Today, he owns a 25-hectare farm supplying produce to most of the major retail stores in Mbombela.
His advice to young people was simple but profound:
“If you are going to ask someone for a lift, first start walking in the direction you are going. Help will find you along the way, and if it doesn’t, you will still arrive.”
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